0000000000057817
AUTHOR
Roberto Gallea
Optimization of trigeneration systems by Mathematical Programming: influence of plant scheme and boundary conditions
The large potential for energy saving by cogeneration and trigeneration in the building sector is scarcely exploited due to a number of obstacles in making the investment attractive. The analyst often encounters difficulties in identifying optimal design and operation strategies, since a number of factors, either endogenous (i.e. related with the energy load profiles) and exogenous (i.e. related with external conditions like energy prices and support mechanisms), influence the economic viability. In this paper a decision tool is presented, that simultaneously optimizes the plant lay-out, the sizes of the main components and their operation strategy. For a specific building in the hotel sect…
Implementazione di funzioni aggiuntive per la rappresentazione e la gestione ottimizzata di risorse energetiche distribuite in un distretto energetico. Simulazione di scenari in ambiente integrato
Il presente Rapporto descrive le attività svolte dal personale del DEIM dell’Università degli Studi Palermo nell’ambito della prima fase delle attività di ricerca dal titolo: “Implementazione di funzioni aggiuntive per la rappresentazione e la gestione ottimizzata di risorse energetiche distribuite in un distretto energetico. Simulazione di scenari in ambiente integrato”, oggetto dell’Accordo di Collaborazione tra ENEA e DEIM sottoscritto in data 25 marzo 2013. Scopo del presente accordo di collaborazione è la definizione di funzioni aggiuntive per i vari componenti del distretto energetico già descritti e modellati in un apposito software nella scorsa annualità. Le simulazioni sono state s…
Optimization of trigeneration systems by Mathematical Programming: Influence of plant scheme and boundary conditions
Abstract The large potential for energy saving by cogeneration and trigeneration in the building sector is scarcely exploited due to a number of obstacles in making the investments attractive. The analyst often encounters difficulties in identifying optimal design and operation strategies, since a number of factors, either endogenous (i.e. related with the energy load profiles) and exogenous (i.e. related with external conditions like energy prices and support mechanisms), influence the economic viability. In this paper a decision tool is adopted, which represents an upgrade of a software analyzed in previous papers; the tool simultaneously optimizes the plant lay-out, the sizes of the main…
Combining Top-down and Bottom-up Visual Saliency for Firearms Localization
Object detection is one of the most challenging issues for computer vision researchers. The analysis of the human visual attention mechanisms can help automatic inspection systems, in order to discard useless information and improving performances and efficiency. In this paper we proposed our attention based method to estimate firearms position in images of people holding firearms. Both top-down and bottom-up mechanisms are involved in our system. The bottom-up analysis is based on a state-of-the-art approach. The top-down analysis is based on the construction of a probabilistic model of the firearms position with respect to the people’s face position. This model has been created by analyzi…
Fuzzy C-Means Inspired Free Form Deformation Technique for Registration
This paper presents a novel method aimed to free form deformation function approximation for purpose of image registration. The method is currently feature-based. The algorithm is inspired to concepts derived from Fuzzy C-means clustering technique such as membership degree and cluster centroids. After algorithm explanation, tests and relative results obtained are presented and discussed. Finally, considerations on future improvements are elucidated.
An integrated platform for electrical modeling of microgrids
Aggregates of loads and generators working coordinated, called microgrids, are new entities appearing at distribution level. In this paper, an integrated platform for energy modeling of microgrids is proposed. The platform allows the evaluation of heat and electrical energy balance terms and of the steady state features of the distribution system supplying the grid. The interface is friendly and allows the positioning of different items, such as co-generators, photovoltaic and wind units, Electric Vehicles parking lots and buildings. The platform is built in Matlab while the interface in Java. Each component of the model can be placed using a CAD facility and each ‘node’ is characterized by…
Physical Metaphor for Streaming Media Retargeting
We here introduce an image/video retargeting method that operates arbitrary aspect ratios resizing achieved in real-time performances. Most of the literature retargeting approaches sacrifice real-time performances in behalf of quality. On the other hand, existing fast methods provide arguable results. We can obtain a valuable trade-off between effectiveness and efficiency. The method named Spring Simulation Retargeting (SSR) is mainly based on a physical springs-based simulation. The media are assumed as flexible objects composed of particles and springs with different local stiffness properties, related to the visual importance of the content. The variation of the object size generates ela…
Noise Filtering Using Edge-Driven Adaptive Anisotropic Diffusion
This paper presents a method aimed to noise removal in MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). We propose an improvement of Perona and Malik's anisotropic diffusion filter. In our schema, the diffusion equation of the filter has been modified to take into account the edges direction, This allows the filter to blur uniform areas, while it better preserves the edges. Both quantitative and qualitative evaluation is presented and the results are compared with other methods.
Managing electrical energy storage systems and shiftable loads with an innovative approach in energy districts
In this work, a power dispatch problem for a system composed of an aggregate of loads and an electrical energy storage system is considered. The approach to solve the optimal dispatch is innovative and shows good performances in limited calculation times. According to the more recent indications coming from the European distributors, the architecture for energy dispatch at distribution level will be hierarchical. The 'Aggregator' is the interface between groups of loads and the energy distributor and sends the individual consumers the desired load profiles, following which the user may gets a discount on the energy bill. On the other hand, the energy tariff may follow a given daily profile …
Heuristic-Based Shiftable Loads Optimal Management in Smart Micro-Grids
In this paper, an optimal power dispatch problem on a 24-h basis for distribution systems with distributed energy resources (DER) also including directly controlled shiftable loads is presented. In the literature, the optimal energy management problems in smart grids (SGs) where such types of loads exist are formulated using integer or mixed integer variables. In this paper, a new formulation of shiftable loads is employed. Such formulation allows reduction in the number of optimization variables and the adoption of real valued optimization methods such as the one proposed in this paper. The method applied is a novel nature-inspired multiobjective optimization algorithm based on an original…
Modelli e strategie per la definizione di strumenti software per la simulazione integrata di distretti energetici in ambiente dedicato
Il presente Rapporto, strutturato in due parti (Parte Prima: “Modelli e strategie per la simulazione di distretti energetici” e Parte Seconda: Definizione e sviluppo di strumenti software per la simulazione integrata di distretti energetici in ambiente dedicato), descrive le attività svolte dal personale del DIEETCAM dell’Università degli Studi Palermo nell’ambito della prima fase delle attività di ricerca dal titolo: “MODELLI E STRATEGIE PER LA DEFINIZIONE DI STRUMENTI SOFTWARE PER LA SIMULAZIONE INTEGRATA DI DISTRETTI ENERGETICI IN AMBIENTE DEDICATO”, oggetto dell’Accordo di Collaborazione tra ENEA e DIEETCAM sottoscritto in data 27 gennaio 2012. Scopo del presente accordo di collaborazio…
Automatic Generation of Subject-Based Image Transitions
This paper presents a novel approach for the automatic generation of image slideshows. Counter to standard cross-fading, the idea is to operate the image transitions keeping the subject focused in the intermediate frames by automatically identifying him/her and preserving face and facial features alignment. This is done by using a novel Active Shape Model and time-series Image Registration. The final result is an aesthetically appealing slideshow which emphasizes the subject. The results have been evaluated with a users’ response survey. The outcomes show that the proposed slideshow concept is widely preferred by final users w.r.t. standard image transitions.
A Math E-Learning Course to Improve Pupils’ Performances
This chapter presents an e-learning teaching/learning activity to support the traditional activities at school. It was developed as a part of a P.O.R. project (Piano Operativo Regionale) of the Regione Sicilia for the Mathematics subject. The experiment was conducted at Libero Grassi school (Istituto Tecnico Commerciale Statale) in Palermo, Italy. The designated e-learning platform is the open source system, Moodle. The main purpose of the formative activity is to reduce students’ educational gap, which may generate “educational debits” at the end of the school year. If the students do not overcome these debits, they are not admitted to the next year. This activity took place during the sec…
Multi-modal Image Registration Using Fuzzy Kernel Regression
This paper presents a study aimed to the realization of a novel multiresolution registration framework. The transformation function is computed iteratively as a composition of local deformations determined by the maximization of mutual information. At each iteration, local transformations are joint together using fuzzy kernel regression. This technique represents the core of the mothod and it's formally described from a probabilistic perspective. It avoids blocking artifacts and allows to keep the final deformation spatially congruent and smooth. Both qualitative and quantitative experimental results show that this approach is equally effective for registering datasets acquired from both si…
Medical image registration: Interpolations, similarities and optimizations strategies
This paper presents a study conducted for evaluating different interpolation schemes, similarity metrics and optimization algorithms for the purpose of volumetric medical image registration. Each technique has been implemented to be plugged in a modular system. Rotation, translation and scale error has been measured to obtain a performance evaluation for all of the combinations of the considered techniques. Several experimental tests were conducted for validation both on synthetic and real datasets providing an exhaustive overview of the various strategies used.
A load model for EV parking lots
In the next years, electric mobility will be one of the issues electric utilities will have to face. The detailed modeling of the electric load generated by the presence of Electric Vehicles, EV, parking lots will be essential to simulate the different working conditions of new distribution systems. Also the detailed modeling will allow to deduce technical and economical aspects, allowing Distribution Systems Operators to devise the right incentives for EV customers. Such as, or maybe more than, residential loading the EV loading is strongly variable because it is connected to the human behavior, the modeling thus has to include stochastic terms. Moreover, to get realistic load profile for …
On the Reliability of Optimization Results for Trigeneration Systems in Buildings, in the Presence of Price Uncertainties and Erroneous Load Estimation
Cogeneration and trigeneration plants are widely recognized as promising technologies for increasing energy efficiency in buildings. However, their overall potential is scarcely exploited, due to the difficulties in achieving economic viability and the risk of investment related to uncertainties in future energy loads and prices. Several stochastic optimization models have been proposed in the literature to account for uncertainties, but these instruments share in a common reliance on user-defined probability functions for each stochastic parameter. Being such functions hard to predict, in this paper an analysis of the influence of erroneous estimation of the uncertain energy loads and pric…
Effective and Efficient Interpolation for Mutual Information based Multimodality Elastic Image Registration
Mutual information (MI) is a popular similarity metric for multimodality image registration purpose. However, it is negatively influenced by artifacts due to interpolation effects. As a result, registration algorithms performance could be affected. In this paper a novel interpolation scheme is presented. It is both effective and efficient. Effective because it limits the presence of local maxima in the mutual information curve, efficient because it is simple to compute being based on simple and optimized distance measures. The method is validated and compared against other techniques both from performance and time complexity persepectives. Differently from other reference works, which perfo…
Multi-modal search for multiobjective optimization: an application to optimal smart grids management
This paper studies the possibility to use efficient multimodal optimizers for multi-objective optimization. In this paper, the application area considered for such new approach is the optimal dispatch of energy sources in smart microgrids. The problem indeed shows a non uniform Pareto front and requires efficient optimal search methods. The idea is to exploit the potential of agents in population-based heuristics to improve diversity in the Pareto front, where solutions show the same rank and are thus equally weighted. Since Pareto dominance is at the basis of the theory of multi-objective optimization, most algorithms show the non dominance ranking as quality indicator, with some problem i…
FUZZY KERNEL REGRESSION FOR REGISTRATION AND OTHER IMAGE WARPING APPLICATIONS
In this dissertation a new approach for non-rigid medical im- age registration is presented. It relies onto a probabilistic framework based on the novel concept of Fuzzy Kernel Regression. The theoric framework, after a formal introduction is applied to develop several complete registration systems, two of them are interactive and one is fully automatic. They all use the composition of local deforma- tions to achieve the final alignment. Automatic one is based onto the maximization of mutual information to produce local affine aligments which are merged into the global transformation. Mutual Information maximization procedure uses gradient descent method. Due to the huge amount of data asso…
Fuzzy Smoothed Composition of Local Mapping Transformations for Non-rigid Image Registration
This paper presents a novel method for medical image regis- tration. The global transformation is obtained by composing affine trans- formations, which are recovered locally from given landmarks. Transfor- mations of adjacent regions are smoothed to avoid blocking artifacts, so that a unique continuous and differentiable global function is obtained. Such composition is operated using a technique derived from fuzzy C- means clustering. The method was successfully tested on several datasets; results, both qualitative and quantitative, are shown. Comparisons with other methods are reported. Final considerations on the efficiency of the technique are explained.
Un’esperienza di e-Learning condotta c/o l’I.T.C.S. “Libero Grassi” di Palermo
Viene presentata una esperienza di e-lerning condotta presso l’I.T.C.S. “Libero Grassi” di Palermo. Dodici tra alunni e alunne di alcune classi dell’Istituto hanno effettuato, a livello sperimentale, uno Sportello Formativo di Matematica on-line utilizzando come applicazione informatica di erogazione Windows Live Messenger, senza costi aggiuntivi per l’Istituto Scolastico se si esclude il costo di una tavoletta grafica necessaria per scrivere rapidamente espressioni, equazioni e tracciare grafici. L’esperienza è stata valutata qualitativamente attraverso un serie di domande somministrate agli alunni e ai genitori degli alunni partecipanti alla sperimentazione. I feedback ricevuti incoraggia…
Pareto-optimal Glowworm Swarms Optimization for Smart Grids Management
This paper presents a novel nature-inspired multi-objective optimization algorithm. The method extends the glowworm swarm particles optimization algorithm with algorithmical enhancements which allow to identify optimal pareto front in the objectives space. In addition, the system allows to specify constraining functions which are needed in practical applications. The framework has been applied to the power dispatch problem of distribution systems including Distributed Energy Resources (DER). Results for the test cases are reported and discussed elucidating both numerical and complexity analysis.
Three-dimensional Fuzzy Kernel Regression framework for registration of medical volume data
Abstract In this work a general framework for non-rigid 3D medical image registration is presented. It relies on two pattern recognition techniques: kernel regression and fuzzy c-means clustering. The paper provides theoretic explanation, details the framework, and illustrates its application to implement three registration algorithms for CT/MR volumes as well as single 2D slices. The first two algorithms are landmark-based approaches, while the third one is an area-based technique. The last approach is based on iterative hierarchical volume subdivision, and maximization of mutual information. Moreover, a high performance Nvidia CUDA based implementation of the algorithm is presented. The f…
Implementation of an online information system for the “Flora Critica d’Italia”
Since the early 2000s, within the Italian Botanical Society was discussed the opportunity to realize collaboratively a modern Flora articulated in monographs on the model of others under construction or recently completed in several European countries (1). This initiative had a milestone in 2007 with the institution of the “Fondazione per la Flora Italiana”, with the aim of supporting the activities of study, conservation and cultural and scientific enhancement of the flora of Italy and of sensitizing the national community about the many functions that it implements, in the context of natural and semi-natural ecosystems. The “Foundation for the Italian flora” is responsible for the publica…
A BDI agent system for credit risk assessment based on fuzzy logic
Credit risk has always been an important issue for banks and other financial intermediaries. A reliable and consistent computing system is necessary to simplify the decision making process in uncertain domains such as the assessment of credit risk. In recent years fuzzy logic techniques have been in their wide-ranging use in modeling of uncertainties, vagueness, impreciseness and the human thought process. Therefore in this paper we present a fuzzy logic based intelligent system for the assessment of credit risk. It aims at efficiently and intelligently managing the process, handling its complexity, and monitoring large amounts of dynamic information in a distributed way, by using a society…
Physical simulation for real-time image/video retargeting
Retargeting methods present content on arbitrary aspect ratio me- dia displays limiting distortions in relevant objects. This is done by means of applying non-homogeneous resizing operators across the whole media, constraining it to fit into the required size. Several succesful systems have been proposed to achieve image retargeting, while video retargeting is still challenging due to time consistency and computational complexity requirements. Two important con- tributes were proposed: non-homogeneous retargeting [Wolf et al. 2007] and improved seam-carving [Rubinstein et al. 2008]. The first one claims to achieve real-time performance but considers spa- tial coordinates separately. The lat…
Toward an Integrated System for Surveillance and Behaviour Analysis of Groups and People
Security and INTelligence SYStem is an Italian research project which aims to create an integrated system for the analysis of multi-modal data sources (text, images, video, audio), to assist operators in homeland security applications. Within this project the Scientific Research Unit of the University of Palermo is responsible of the image and video analysis activity. The SRU of Palermo developed a web service based architecture that provides image and video analysis capabilities to the integrated analysis system. The developed architecture uses both state of the art techniques, adapted to cope with the particular problem at hand, and new algorithms to provide the following services: image …
Automatic aesthetic photo composition
A proper aesthetic composition of photographic content does result in an actual emotional response from the watcher. In this work we propose a fully automatic computational approach to photo composi- tion. This method takes into account well-known and widely adopted aesthetic guidelines relative to picture content as a mean for guiding an optimization framework. The resulting composition is produced as the optimal combination of cropping and retargeting. The effectiveness of the results achieved by the method are tested and evaluated with several of experiments.
Retargeting Framework Based on Monte-carlo Sampling
Advance in image technology and proliferation of acquisition devices like smartphones, digital cameras, etc., made the display of digital images ubiquitous. Many displays exist in the market, spanning within a large variety of resolutions and shapes. Thus, displaying content optimizing the available number of pixels has become a very important issue in the multimedia community, and the image retargeting problem is being widely faced. In this work, we propose an image retargeting framework based on monte-carlo sampling. We operate the non-homogeneous resizing as the composition of several simple atomic resizing functions. The shape of such atomic operator can be chosen within a set of tested…
A Self-Adapting Approach for Forecast-Less Scheduling of Electrical Energy Storage Systems in a Liberalized Energy Market
In this paper, an original scheduling approach for optimal dispatch of electrical Energy Storage Systems (ESS) in modern distribution networks is proposed. The control system is based on fuzzy rules and does not use forecasts since it repairs the past history according to the real time data on the electrical energy cost, renewable energy production and load. When the system detects a worsening of performances, the fuzzy logic rule-based control system self-adapts its membership functions using an economic indicator. The common use, in the relevant literature, of forecasted values in such systems can lead to large errors and economic losses. Moreover the speed of calculation guaranteed by th…
A Combined Fuzzy and Probabilistic Data Descriptor for Distributed CBIR
With the wide diffusion of digital image acquisition devices, the cost of managing hundreds of digital images is quickly increasing. Currently, the main way to search digital image libraries is by keywords given by the user. However, users usually add ambiguos keywords for large set of images. A content-based system intended to automatically find a query image, or similar images, within the whole collection is needed. In our work we address the scenario where medical image collections, which nowadays are rapidly expanding in quantity and heterogeneity, are shared in a distributed system to support diagnostic and preventive medicine. Our goal is to produce an efficient content-based descript…
OPTIMIZATION OF POLYGENERATION SYSTEMS SERVING A CLUSTER OF BUILDINGS
The optimization of combined energy systems for the production and distribution of warm and cold fluids to civil users is very complex; two possible configurations, i.e. the small single units for individual buildings and the large plants integrated with district heating networks, can be essentially considered, especially in cold climates. Dealing with such a complex problem, involving a very large number of variables, requires efficient algorithms and resolution techniques. The present chapter illustrates a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP)1 approach to the optimization of synthesis, design and operation for CHCP-based μ-grids including thermal energy storages. A novel approach is presen…
Browser independent content based image resizing for liquid web layouts
A typical problem for webdesigners is to realize pages that can be potentially accessed from a number of display devices with different screen sizes and resolutions. Liquid layouts can help for this purpose. However, they can not typically be applied to images, which need to be rescaled or deformed. In both cases usability could be deteriorated. Content-aware image resizing techniques can help for this goal by rescaling the images to the desired width while preserving important image structures. This paper presents a content-aware resizing technique which can be seamlessly integrated into web pages without any effort from the user. The results from the system application prove its effective…
A Java-based Wrapper for Wireless Communications
The increasing number of new applications for mobile devices in pervasive environments, do not cope with changes in the wireless communications. Developers of such applications have to deal with problems arising from the available wireless connections in the given environment. A middleware is a solution that allows to overcome some of these problems. It provides to the applications a set of functions that facilitate their development. In this paper we present a Java-based communication wrapper, called SmartTraffic, which allows programmers to seamlessly use TCP or UDP protocols over Bluetooth or any IP-based wireless network. Developers can use SmartTraffic within their Java applications, t…
A comprehensive tool for efficient design and operation of polygeneration-based energy μgrids serving a cluster of buildings. Part I: Description of the method
Polygeneration systems with thermal energy storage represent promising solutions to achieve energy saving and emissions reduction in the civil sector. The definition of customer-oriented design and operation strategies represents a most challenging task, in order to maximize the profitability and make the investment attractive. A large potential is often recognized for the installation of centralized plants serving a cluster of buildings located over a small area; in such cases the design problem becomes extremely complex and the analyst needs reliable instruments to identify the optimal solution. This paper in two parts presents a scientific tool for the optimization of design and operatio…
Fuzzy-based Kernel Regression Approaches for Free Form Deformation and Elastic Registration of Medical Images
In modern medicine, a largely diffused method for gathering knowledge about organs and tissues is obtained by means of merging information from several datasets. Such data are provided from multimodal or sequential acquisitions. As a consequence, a pre-processing step that is called “image registration” is required to achieve data integration. Image registration aims to obtain the best possible spatial correspondence between misaligned datasets. This procedure is also useful to correct distortions induced by magnetic interferences with the acquisition equipment signals or the ones due patient’s involuntary movements such as heartbeat or breathing. The problem can be regarded as finding the …